In All My Sons, Arthur Miller offers a different perspective on the conventional Aristotle tragic hero with Joe Keller

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Introduction

﻿In ?All My Sons?, Arthur Miller offers a different perspective on the conventional Aristotle tragic hero with Joe Keller. Discuss how Joe Keller compares to the classical model of a tragic hero. ?All My Sons? is a modern tragedy by Arthur Miller that presents the themes and ideas of denial, blame and the American dream. Joe Keller is the ?ordinary? man, hence his name suggesting ?ordinary Joe?. He is at the heart of the tragedy, along with his family, as we hear of their missing son lost during the war serving his country. During this time Joe used his business of making engine cylinders, to get involved in war profiteering; this is someone or a business that improperly profits from warfare by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. Joe?s engines cylinders were used in fighter planes, which his son flew. ...read more.

Middle

Like many other characters in the play Joe is happy to play out his life living in denial and not having to face up to the truth, for example his wife who after three years is still adamant her son, Larry, who we believe to be lost is still alive, yet we, as the audience understand other character such as Chris have come to deal with the idea of Larry never coming back. Aristotle says ?the tragic hero is a great man, one of those who stand in great repute and prosperity? and that ?the hero is neither a villain, nor a model of perfection but is basically good and decent. Similarly to this, Arthur Miller gives Joe these characteristics. To the audience throughout the play he seems a nice, kind man that we grow to like. ...read more.

Conclusion

Aristotle says ?A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.? In ?All My Son?s?, Many say that Joe fits with the conventional and typical Aristotle tragic hero. Like many others just after the war, Joe lives a simple life. But ironically to this we soon see that his life is not as simple as we first believed and as first he believed. Joe lives a life of denial and isolates himself from anything that doesn?t fit with the ideas that he believes in. Like other characters in the play Joe is happy to play out his life living in denial and not having to face up to the truth, for example his wife who after three years is still adamant her son, Larry, who we believe to be lost is still alive, yet we, as the audience understand other character such as Chris have come to deal with the idea of Larry never coming back. ...read more.

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